Birthdays come and gone

Birthdays in the core Wiggins' family all occur in the month of May:17, 24, 30, 31.

So May often ends up feeling like the big celebration month. Mother's Day, birthdays, end of school, it all falls around the same time.

Mom and I decided that this year we'd take a short trip, just the two of us to some parks in Florida that we'd never been to.

We picked Kissimmee Prairie Preserve and Corkscrew.

Here's some pics.

 These were all taken at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve: Softshell turtle, Eastern Meadowlark, Yellow Crowned Night Heron, shot down the Prairie access road, Crested Cara Cara, Eastern Bobwhite Quail, Red-shouldered Hawk taking off, Black Swallowtail Butterfly on Thistle.

We stopped by a little park called Lake June in Winter Scrub State Park, because mom had been told it was a great place to hike the trails and eat a picnic lunch.

Let's just say that the description was not truthful. We had a GREAT time, but only because the both of us have a twisted sense of humor.  First of all to get to the park, you had to go on a winding road around the lake, turn off down a neighborhood street, and then what?. . . .call for directions. . .turn around, go down another road, end up at a dirt driveway, call again, turn around, take another dirt road across to the road you previously turned down, to the dirt road that you thought was a dead end. Take that dirt road down to the entrance of the park.

And then you enter Utopia. . .wait, not really. . .you enter a scrubby area, with a little picnic pavilion, an outhouse, and a rather obstructed view of the lake. Plus, all the trails were closed for maintenance.
However, the big blooming bay tree  made up for most of the hassle. . .and of course the laughter!

Corkscrew is a park sponsored by the Audubon society and is right outside of Naples, FL.
We went in the evening, so there weren't a lot of birds to be seen. Still, pretty neat park.
TONS of bromeliads. 

Little Black Racer, checking me out

Mom beneath the bald cypress on the boardwalk

We had a good time. Trip was WAAAAYY too short, but that was ok. We took the time to do nothing, hanging out at the hotel, sleeping in, going to the beach (very briefly) and going to see Iron Man 3.

Great trip. . .and then I threw my back out.